Some various general/newb questions.

[applebreath]

1) Is there any improvement to the campaign and battle AI? I know that other mods say they improve the AI through formations and such, but does EB make any improvements? Are the battles harder than they are in vanilla? Will the AI still send one ship to attack your port and start a war?

2) Can someone tell me the main differences between DarthMod, EB, and RTR?

3) When you load EB, should you still see the regular vanilla intro movie start, meaning EB didn't make one of there own?

4) Is there any way to know if the script has been activated and is working correctly?

5) Do I have to worry about the reload bug from vanilla or is that fixed by always starting the script when I load a game?

6) Is there some sort of huge readme file, some kind of detailed guide for all the new features?

Thanks,
Apple

p.s. Thank god for the fix that allows the ocean to look like it did in vanilla.

[anubis88]

1) no, that's hardoced. If you play with alex or BI, you should see improvements
2) The three mods are impossible to compare. EB is definetly the most thurough historically, other than that you should try and find out for yourself, as this is a minefield topic
3) yep
4) if the Counselor doesn't appear every time you click on a settlemnt, then the script is on.
5)i thought this is a EB bug. You should restart EB altogether, when you load the campaing
6)Well if you mean something like a FAQ, you should see it right away when you load this forums

[applebreath]

Are you saying that I should install the game with BI or alex? Then I would see improvements with AI? If this is the case, why doesn't EB tell us to do that when we install the game? How could BI or alex help much anyways?

Thanks,
Apple

[Scipio Germanicus]

Are you saying that I should install the game with BI or alex? Then I would see improvements with AI? If this is the case, why doesn't EB tell us to do that when we install the game? How could BI or alex help much anyways?

Thanks,
Apple

EB was built for RTW. IDK what alex.exe does for sure but playing with BI makes the AI a little more aggresive, night battles, and they will send naval invasions occasionally. For example, on RTW he island of Kypros has nothing to worry about from anyone exept the player. But on BI I often see it in Seleukid hands.

[lionhard]

[QUOTE=applebreath;2353119]1) Is there any improvement to the campaign and battle AI? I know that other mods say they improve the AI through formations and such, but does EB make any improvements? Are the battles harder than they are in vanilla? Will the AI still send one ship to attack your port and start a war?

2) Can someone tell me the main differences between DarthMod, EB, and RTR?

3) When you load EB, should you still see the regular vanilla intro movie start, meaning EB didn't make one of there own?

4) Is there any way to know if the script has been activated and is working correctly?

5) Do I have to worry about the reload bug from vanilla or is that fixed by always starting the script when I load a game?

6) Is there some sort of huge readme file, some kind of detailed guide for all the new features?

Thanks,
Apple

p.s. Thank god for the fix that allows the ocean to look like it did in vanilla.

I thought the EB team did a great job with the ocean i like the more real feel it gives

[Ludens]

1) EB includes both a formation mod and aids for the strategic A.I. However, as anubis88 writes, this is not something that can be changed a lot through modding. In the unofficial submod forum you can find Sinuhet's and Darth's formation mods adapted for EB. These further improve battle A.I. but again: don't expect miracles. They merely raise the level from bad to unimpressive.

As for the alternative .exe's: BI.exe does not improve strategic or battle A.I. It does, however, make the A.I. more likely to carry out naval invasions. That can be a downside, as I've seen several pointless naval attacks carried out by too small armies, for no other reason than that the A.I. shared a stretch of water with me. I haven't tried alex.exe yet.

2) We generally don't allow comparisons between different mods, as this would lead to fans of either mods slagging each other. As such, I won't say which one is better, merely state their philosophy. Both EB and RTR try to create a version of RTW that is as realistic as possible. EB goes further in their quest for accuracy, while RTR is more accessible and less resource intensive. Darth mod on the other hand is not much concerned with accuracy: its battle A.I. is reputed to be the best of any mod. His formation files have been adapted for EB, but the full Darth mod is supposed to be even better.

In case someone wants to take this discussion further: no mod-bashing, please.

5) Reload-bug? You mean the save-reload bug that made the A.I. forget which cities it was attacking when a game was reloaded? That was fixed in R:TW patch 1.3. It's not present in EB.

6) No, but check out the FAQ and the EB guides forum.

[applebreath]

@lionhard

In theory I see why the ocean is much nicer the way EB did it. Its just that with the RTW engine/graphics, it is too much for the eye, imo. It takes away the glossy look and forces your eye to strain more to see what's going on in the campaign map. I have a pretty big monitor with 1900X1200 res, but I have to use the original ocean. If it wasn't for that fix, I probably wouldn't play EB1. It's why I havn't till now. I was waiting for EB2, which I don't know if it will ever come out, :(.

So I came back to EB1 and I saw the fix for the ocean. :))

In truth, it's not only the ocean that stopped me from playing EB1. I hate the AI of RTW. I know that M2TW will have a much better AI for EB2. But I can't wait any longer. I want to play, :). So EB1, here I come!!

7)Can you continue the game with the AI still working, even after you met your victory conditions? What about after 14ad, as long as you met your victory conditions?

[burn_again]

7)Can you continue the game with the AI still working, even after you met your victory conditions? What about after 14ad, as long as you met your victory conditions?

You can continue after the Victory screen without any problems.

You can play after 14AD, but you will have only 2 turns per year then. But you probably won't get that far. Most people don't even get to 100BC.

[applebreath]

8)About how close does the East of the campaign map come to being near Genghis Khan's homeland? 500 miles?

[A Very Super Market]

Bit off an odd question there, but I'll answer it. The game map ends after straying just a bit into India. I believe on of the settlements (Sulek) is located within modern day China, at the very farthest Western bit. Anyways, this doesn't really answer your question.

Estimating from just looking at a map with a ruler, Mongolia and EB's map seem to be around 3000 kM apart, or 1864 miles.

[Ludens]

Bit off an odd question there, but I'll answer it. The game map ends after straying just a bit into India. I believe on of the settlements (Sulek) is located within modern day China, at the very farthest Western bit. Anyways, this doesn't really answer your question.

Except that the northern-eastern edge of the map is not directly north of the south-eastern edge of the map. The earth is a globe, remember. There was actually a debate about how far east the EB map stretched, when discussing the inclusion of the Yuezhi. The area around Sulek is the Tarim basin.

[applebreath]

9)

You can continue after the Victory screen without any problems.

You can play after 14AD, but you will have only 2 turns per year then. But you probably won't get that far. Most people don't even get to 100BC.

But the AI should work "fine" and I shouldn't run into any CTD's?

10)
I am playing with the Extended Alex for EB mod. But this question can probably work for just EB: Is there anyway to get the units to speak English? Since the units were remade, they probably never put an English voice in for them?

It's kind of cool that it's authentic and all, but it would be nice if I knew what my units were saying :P.

11)
Sometimes for testing I'll use some cheats, then reload the game. I know that I have to reactivate the script, but when I do, the advisor doesn't go away unless I dismiss it. So I click "show me how" then I have to dismiss the advisor. Is the script ativated in that situation?

To get it to work normally, with the advisor automatically being dismissed, I have to reload the program, then load the saved game.

[Scipio Germanicus]

9)

But the AI should work "fine" and I shouldn't run into any CTD's?

10)
I am playing with the Extended Alex for EB mod. But this question can probably work for just EB: Is there anyway to get the units to speak English? Since the units were remade, they probably never put an English voice in for them?

It's kind of cool that it's authentic and all, but it would be nice if I knew what my units were saying :P.

11)
Sometimes for testing I'll use some cheats, then reload the game. I know that I have to reactivate the script, but when I do, the advisor doesn't go away unless I dismiss it. So I click "show me how" then I have to dismiss the advisor. Is the script ativated in that situation?

To get it to work normally, with the advisor automatically being dismissed, I have to reload the program, then load the saved game.

I don't know about number 9 as I've never had the attention span to play that far, but as for number 10: it's part of the experience. The team wanted historical accuracy so they've done as much as possible to make it accurate. Besides, most just seem to say their unit name.

I'm pretty sure the script is activated. I've had that happen a few times and not had any problems or unusual CTD's.

[applebreath]

12)

If another faction completes their victory conditions, does that mean it's game over for you? What happens or does this never happen? Or is the only way the game will end is if you don't have your conditions met by 14ad or all your family mamebers die? What if all males are dead but females arn't dead?

(I only will play as ROME.)

13)

How does the names work in Roman history? Where I come from we have a first name, middle (mothers family name), last name (fathers family name). I'm confused on their naming system. Do they have a name for just the young, then when they get older it changes (is this their first name)?

[Ca Putt]

9. afaik they don't get scripted money anymore thus they will be utterly broke.

10. well changeling the voice file of the units is option a) learning latin (which should be no problem as you only play with rome :P) would be a (much better) option b :P

12. the game is over when:
all your adult males (thus ingame FMs) are dead
all your settlements are conquered
your Faction leader AND the heir die in the SAME battle.

you loose(not game over only no chance of victory) when you have not achieved your VCs by 14 ad.

the AI is unlikely to achieve their victory conditions as they include conquering Vanilla Rome and that has been moved to Gotland the most unlikely spot to see the AI expand to.

(I only will play as ROME.)

[applebreath]

9. afaik they don't get scripted money anymore thus they will be utterly broke.

The above is talking about after 14AD, correct? Or does it also apply for when your victory conditions are met, even if that is before 14AD?

[Mediolanicus]

9)

But the AI should work "fine" and I shouldn't run into any CTD's?

10)
I am playing with the Extended Alex for EB mod. But this question can probably work for just EB: Is there anyway to get the units to speak English? Since the units were remade, they probably never put an English voice in for them?

It's kind of cool that it's authentic and all, but it would be nice if I knew what my units were saying :P.

11)
Sometimes for testing I'll use some cheats, then reload the game. I know that I have to reactivate the script, but when I do, the advisor doesn't go away unless I dismiss it. So I click "show me how" then I have to dismiss the advisor. Is the script ativated in that situation?

To get it to work normally, with the advisor automatically being dismissed, I have to reload the program, then load the saved game.

12)

If another faction completes their victory conditions, does that mean it's game over for you? What happens or does this never happen? Or is the only way the game will end is if you don't have your conditions met by 14ad or all your family mamebers die? What if all males are dead but females arn't dead?

(I only will play as ROME.)

13)

How does the names work in Roman history? Where I come from we have a first name, middle (mothers family name), last name (fathers family name). I'm confused on their naming system. Do they have a name for just the young, then when they get older it changes (is this their first name)?

9. The script works until 14 AD. After that you'll still have normal RTW AI, but the money and population bonusses given by the EB script.
The victory conditions serve no purpose other than being the goal.

10. EB put a non-English voice in for them. That's what makes EB so great.
They say their unit name or what you order them to do. e.g.: when you order them to fire you will hear "fire" in Latin, Greek, Celtic,...

11. The best way to avoid the script from being confused is quitting and restarting the game each time you want to reload. This is mandatory when playing different factions, but even when loading a save game from the same faction the advisor will sometimes act up.

12. Has been answered mostly. AI VC's have no meaning.
You should try another faction once.

13. You can find easily by yourself.
1. Praenomen
2. Nomen (this is the name of the gens - they have common ancestor somewhere far in the past)
3. Cognomen (the real family name, but this can be changed by an event or an adoption e.g. Africanus, Octavianus)

The fact that -16 year olds have only 1 name has to do with the way the game-engine works.

[The General]

10)
I am playing with the Extended Alex for EB mod. But this question can probably work for just EB: Is there anyway to get the units to speak English? Since the units were remade, they probably never put an English voice in for them?

It's kind of cool that it's authentic and all, but it would be nice if I knew what my units were saying :P.

Questions like these baffle me. One of the most annoying things in games (and movies) in my opinion is how pretty much everyone everywhere always speak English. Each to his own, I suppose. For me, it's one of my favourite elements of the EB experience (to hear the units speak their respective languages).

[applebreath]

Questions like these baffle me. One of the most annoying things in games (and movies) in my opinion is how pretty much everyone everywhere always speak English. Each to his own, I suppose. For me, it's one of my favourite elements of the EB experience (to hear the units speak their respective languages).

I now agree with the above.. It is a unique feature that grows on you.

[applebreath]

In terms of the game feature of becoming someones allies: Historically, did the senate make many allies with other factions? Where they mainly nuetrul with others, only becoming allies if they conquered someone or if they wanted a friend in an upcoming war?

-Apple

[Ludens]

In terms of the game feature of becoming someones allies: Historically, did the senate make many allies with other factions? Where they mainly nuetrul with others, only becoming allies if they conquered someone or if they wanted a friend in an upcoming war?

The Senate was notoriously haughty and would often insist that their ally would treat them as a superior. Witness the behaviour of several Roman senators towards the Ptolemean kings. However, I doubt they had this attitude in 272 BC, because Rome was not a world power at this point. Also, they did form alliances with factions they had not defeated, like the Ptolemies. Many tribes were also, at one point or another, "friend of the Roman people".

[applebreath]

The Senate was notoriously haughty and would often insist that their ally would treat them as a superior. Witness the behaviour of several Roman senators towards the Ptolemean kings. However, I doubt they had this attitude in 272 BC, because Rome was not a world power at this point. Also, they did form alliances with factions they had not defeated, like the Ptolemies. Many tribes were also, at one point or another, "friend of the Roman people".

But in terms of the game options, would Rome be allied with many factions, or mainly neutral? Also, what does it mean to be allied, does that mean that if my ally (on the other side of the world) is at war, I would need to send troops? I'm mainly trying to figure out how I can roleplay (how I should play) with the allied feature or if I shouldn't have allies in the first place.

-Apple

[Ludens]

That's a difficult one. Most alliances Rome had would be "client kingdoms" and similar at her borders, but these are eleutheroi in EB1 terms and don't do diplomacy. Of course: the dividing line is vague, since IIRC the Aedui were also such an ally at some point.

Anyway, R:TW's diplomacy A.I. is stupid. Alliances mean very little to it. A better way of ensuring a good relationship is a small regular tribute (say 200 mnai per turn). In-game, an alliance does little except that you cannot be allied to two factions that are at war with each other (although for some reason this does occur at the start of EB's campaign).

I guess you should ally with a faction if their well-being is important to you and you do not want them hostile. However, don't trust the A.I. It has been programmed to dislike the player, so even your allies can quickly turn against you.